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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fork · press · vault · rock · cold · wake · hand · chair

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. vault — a safe
  3. rock — music
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. cold — an illness
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. rock — a stone
  10. chair — a leader
  11. press — a publisher
  12. fork — in a road
  13. press — newspapers
  14. press — to push
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. hand — in cards
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. wake — a trail
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. chair — to sit on

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com